Allen, S. (2014). Towards a conceptual map of academic libraries' role in student retention. The Christian Librarian, 57(1), 7-19.
Allen uses a model of student engagement developed by Tinto (1993) and connects it to existing literature of libraries and retention.
Bell, S. (2008) Keeping them enrolled: how academic libraries contribute to student retention. Library Issues: Briefings for Faculty and Administrators, 29(1),1-4.
Brief overview of retention literature as of 2008. Bell suggests several avenues for further research.
Clink, K. (2015). The academic library’s role in student retention. PNLA Quarterly, 80(1).
Brief summary of a conference presentation. Not recommended for reading.
Currier, M. L., & Wilhelm, C. (2017, Examining the case of an academic library's student-focused, patron-satisfaction approach to organizational transformation for student retention. Library Leadership & Management (Online), 31, 1-39.
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“After realizing the library had developed a negative reputation, the director of SUNY Canton’s Southworth Library integrated a multi-pronged strategic plan to improve the perceived reputation of the library while cultivating student loyalty.” An interesting case study, in which the library completely reinvented itself. No actual focus on retention.
Gansemer-Topf, A., & Schuh, J. (2004). Instruction and academic support expenditures: An investment in retention and graduation. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 5(2), 135-145.
Examined IPEDS data about instructional and academic support expenditures for public and private research and doctoral universities to see if they predicted retention and graduation rates. They found that higher expenditures did result in higher retention and graduation rates.
Godfrey, I., Rutledge, L., Mowdood, A., Reed, J., Bigler, S., & Soehner, C. (2017). Supporting student retention and success: Including family areas in an academic library. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 17(2), 375-388.
Discusses a Family Reading Room added to the library where parents could bring their children along while they studied, including a lactation room.
Haddow, G. (2013). Academic library use and student retention: A quantitative analysis. Library & Information Science Research, 35(2), 127–136.
Looked to see if students who stayed enrolled logged into library resources at a higher rate than those who withdrew and found this to be the case.
Hagel, P., Horn, A., Owen, S., & Currie, M. (2012). 'How can we help?' The contribution of university libraries to student retention. Australian Academic and Research Libraries, 43(3), 214-230.
Focuses on a literature review sharing five ways libraries contribute to student success.
Hamrick, F. A., Schuh, J. H., & Shelley, M. C. (2004). Predicting higher educationgraduation rates from institutional characteristics and resource allocation. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12, 19.
Examined IPEDS data to determine the effect of many different factors on graduation rates. They found that library expenditures had a high influence on graduation rates.
Hubbard, M. A., & Loos, A. T. (2013). Academic library participation in recruitment and retention initiatives. Reference Services Review, 41(2), 157–181.
Discusses a survey sent out to a random sample of heads of academic libraries which asked them to describe the role of their libraries in recruitment and retention at their campuses.
Kramer, L. A., & Kramer, M. B. (1968). The college library and the drop-out. College & Research Libraries, 29(4), 310–312.
Possibly the earliest (published 1968) study on library usage and retention. Studied library usage by book checkout of first year students and their return the following academic year. “Of those freshmen who failed to use the library, 43 per cent did not return the following year. But of those who did borrow at least one book, only 26 per cent dropped out.”
Matthews, J. (2012). Assessing library contributions to university outcomes: The need for individual student level data. Library Management, 33(6), 389-402.
Discusses multiple ways for libraries to assess themselves beyond traditional forms of assessment.
Mezick, E. (2007). Return on investment: Libraries and student retention. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 33(5), 561-566.
Evaluates 2002–03 Annual Survey of ARL Statistics, 2003 ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics, and 2003 IPEDS of 586 ARL/ACRL institutions, comparing retention rates with library expenditure, FTE student enrollment, and professional staff data. The study found library expenditures and professional staff have a statistical significant positive effect on student retention.
Murray, A. (2015). Academic libraries and high-impact practices for student retention: Library deans' perspectives. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 15(3), 471-487.
Discusses a survey that was sent to academic library deans or directors, asking them to rate their library’s involvement with HIPs. Thus, the data is only self-reported. There is some interesting discussion from the authors about libraries and HIPs.
Nichols Hess, A., Greer, K., Lombardo, S., & Lim, A. (2015). Books, bytes, and buildings: The academic library's unique role in improving student success. Journal of Library Administration, 55(8), 622-638.
Focuses on discussing ways in which Oakland University Libraries contribute to student success.
Oliveira, Silas, "University libraries leading the way through choppy waters: The library's role in student retention." Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences. Paper 3.
Great Lit Review on retention and libraries. Includes a chart with 23 library services and resources and citations for studies for each.
Pagowsky, N., & Hammond, J. (2012). A programmatic approach systematically tying the library to student retention efforts on campus. College and Research Libraries News, 73(10), 582-585.
Brief update, shares assessment and retention efforts on the campuses of Naugatuck Valley Community College (where first year IL sessions are becoming mandatory) and The University of Arizona (where they are “taking a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach for nonlibrary staff engaged in retention”).
Renirie, R. (2017). Retention of adult and traditional learners: Library strategies for student success. Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning, 11(3-4), 314-329. doi:10.1080/1533290X.2017.1406876
Comprised of a literature review of articles discussing traditional and non-traditional learners in which they found six themes. The six themes are life experiences, classroom as key academic arena, importance of relationships, academic interventions, technology assistance, and importance of communication.
Scheuler, S. (2015). Retention and student success: An action plan for academic librarians. Library Leadership and Management, 30(2).
Short article mainly consisting of a rubric. Not recommended.
Stone, G., & Ramsden, B. (2013). Library impact data project: Looking for the link between library usage and student attainment. College and Research Libraries, 74(6), 546-559.
Used library data from eight universities in the UK and compared it to degree attainment. Found a “relationship between student attainment and...e-resources use and book borrowing statistics...shown to be true across all eight partners in the project that provided data for these indicators.”
Vance, J., Kirk, R., & Gardner, J. (2012). Measuring the impact of library instruction on freshmen success and persistence: A quantitative analysis. Communications in Information Literacy, 6(1), 5.
Looked to see if there was an impact on first-year retention caused by a student attending a library instruction session. They did not find a direct connection, but did find that library instruction does positively affect GPA.
Ziskin, M., Hossler, D., & Kim, S. (2010). The study of institutional practices related to student persistence. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 11(1), 101-121.
Conducted a survey among colleges in five states: California, Georgia, Indiana, New York, and Texas about retention rates and student persistence and analyzed the resulting data.